The Chronological Donald Volume One

Mickey Mouse is the character that launched an empire. When Walt’s darling little mouse took to the screen he captured the hearts of millions of movie-goers in the 1930’s, adult and children alike. And even though he’s no longer a big part of Disney’s animation output, the theme parks and other merchandising have made sure that Mickey has never faded far from the spotlight. His earliest exploits though are thematically different from what is presented as Mickey Mouse today. Sure the obvious distinction of Mickey no longer appearing in black and white is clear, but it’s his character traits that are most notable. In his earliest days, Mickey was more like Bugs Bunny in that he was a bit of a trouble-maker. He was never on Bugs’ level in that regard, but he did partake in things some parents were not overly fond with. The cartoon that famously introduced the character Pluto, “The Chain Gang,” begins with Mickey in prison, of all places. He smoked, he drank, and he could be a bit of a jerk in those old cartoons. Walt Disney, after hearing the complaints from some parents, decided he needed Mickey to be the face of his company, and as a result, he needed to clean him up just a bit. His cartoons still needed the characteristics he was about to excise from Mickey, so he took them (and then some) and applied them to a new character, an anthropomorphic duck he named Donald.

Donald took off like a rocket. His easily irritable and temperamental nature made him a hit with fans who either rooted for him or against him. His tendency to exhibit wild mood swings added a charge of electricity to his cartoons; fans knew the tantrum was coming, they just didn’t know when. At first, Donald appeared alongside Mickey for the most part, but soon his popularity earned him his own series allowing him to surpass Mickey himself in terms of popularity. To date, no other Disney character has appeared in more cartoons than Donald and he’s appeared in more comic strips than any character who doesn’t wear tights and fight crime. Donald Duck is recognized all over the world and has become an institution, so it should come as no surprise that he has several DVD releases in the Walt Disney Treasures line as well.

I love Donald and always have. I liked Mickey too when I was a kid, and I always had a fondness for Pluto, but Donald was my favorite. He’s just an inherently funny character and a lot of that comes from the performance of Clarence “Ducky” Nash, Donald’s voice actor from the 1930’s thru to the early 80’s concluding with Mickey’s Christmas Carol. That semi-intelligible voice is perfect for the character. It sounds like something that would come from a duck, if a duck could speak. Of course, that impression may only exist because Donald has been around for over 70 years but that certainly must have been the sentiment when Nash was awarded the role. Sometimes it’s nearly impossible to figure out what Donald is saying, but that adds to the humor. Early on, other duck characters that would appear in Donald cartoons, including Daisy, would speak like Donald but overtime that was dropped. Donald’s nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, exhibited a lesser but similar speech pattern until DuckTales when they were basically made to speak somewhat normal.

Sharks find ducks tasty.

The Chronological Donald was released in four parts from 2005-2008. As the name implies, the shorts appear in chronological order beginning with Donald’s debut from the Silly Symphonies series “The Wise Little Hen.” This makes Donald the rare character to debut in color before black and white. His first appearance with Mickey came in the short “Orphan’s Benefit” which can be found on the set Mickey Mouse in Black and White. It would have been nice to have it here too to mark the occasion as several other sets contain overlapping cartoons, but oh well. After “The Wise Little Hen,” the rest of the shorts are Donald cartoons though he wasn’t officially given his own series until 1937 with the first short being “Don Donald.” Mickey doesn’t appear in any of these cartoons (with the exception of one brief cameo), but Pluto and Goofy make appearances as Disney seemed to enjoy pairing Donald with those two. This set also contains the debut of Donald’s nephews in the cartoon appropriately titled “Donald’s Nephews.” We’re also introduced to Donald’s cousin Gus in one short who never made another appearance that I’m aware of.

For the most part, these shorts try to put Donald in a new role in each one. That role is either an official one like “Officer Duck” or making him a golfer or a celebrity chaser. Some of the ideas repeat, such as “Donald’s Ostrich” and “Donald’s Penguin.” There’s repeating gags too, of course the most famous being Donald’s tantrum where he thrusts out one arm and swings the other while hopping up and down. If he doesn’t assume this pose in every cartoon, well then he does in almost every one. It’s hard for me to choose a favorite, as several shorts here are ones I’m familiar with from my childhood so they have a nostalgic quality for me. “Sea Scouts” is one where Donald and his nephews are sailors and have to contend with a shark. It’s a mostly slapstick affair with a great sequence of Donald trying to keep from getting swallowed by the shark. “Beach Picnic” is another where Donald finds his water float to be uncooperative and Pluto finds himself victimized by the irascible duck. This cartoon also contains the Pluto fly paper gag, one that shows up in several other cartoons.

This set was created before the vault concept was created for this series. For those unaware, the vaulted cartoons are ones that contain offensive material. Leonard Maltin is the host for the set and he does comment on some of the shorts. The most common bit of offensive material is stereotypical portrayals of native americans. Anyone around the age of thirty who grew up watching old Warner Bros. shorts or Disney cartoons (including feature-length films such as Peter Pan) should be familiar with this kind of material. I don’t tell people how to raise their kids so if you’re not familiar with this kind of stuff and are weary about showing it to your kids do some research. In the case of Donald Duck shorts, a great many can be viewed on video sites for free making it easy to preview the material first.

Things rarely end well for Donald.

Of course, if you want to purchase such a set for your kids know that it isn’t easy. Disney only released a limited amount figuring only collectors and Disney diehards would be interested so walking into a store and simply buying a set of Donald Duck cartoons is basically impossible. Volume One was produced in larger numbers than others but still can command a hefty price. Amazon has it currently priced at $65 and volume two at $54 with volumes three and four jumping over $100. I don’t know if they’re worth it, but if you do love Donald and want some of his cartoons you will find this to be a quality set. The DVDs came housed in a plastic DVD case which in turn is packaged in a silver tin. The only negative to the packaging is that the tin can be prone to denting in the shipping process. The cartoons look great for the most part, especially when one considers how old they are. Some have survived better than others and it shows on some with the usual white Donald being a little dingy or sometimes yellowed. The quality of the animation can’t be dulled by age though, and if anything, it only looks more impressive in today’s age where a lot of animation is low-budget or computer generated. Hand drawn animation is practically dead and this set certainly helps to bring the viewer back to the golden age for animation. Animation fans and Disney fans would do well to track these sets down. I own three of the four, and the completest in me likely demands that I eventually get the fourth. I’ve watched them all and on a lazy Sunday morning it’s not uncommon to find me on my couch with a cup of coffee and Donald Duck playing on my TV.